How Medicaid Planning Can Help Protect Your Spouse

When it comes to planning for your future it is important to take your spouse into account. Starting Medicaid planning early can help protect your spouse in the future by ensuring that both of your assets are protected and accounted for. 

The community or non-Medicaid spouse can keep non-exempt resourced owned by one or both spouses with a maximum of $154,140. However, if the spouse’s assets don’t equal the minimum of $30,828 the community spouse is able to retain assets from the Medicaid spouse until the minimum is reached.

Medicaid laws include special sets of rules called spousal protections that ensure a healthy spouse has enough income and assets to live on. For instance, there is community spouse impoverishment protection where the community spouse can keep part of the Medicaid spouse’s income if the community spouse has an income of less than $2,829 per month. 

If your spouse only has a monthly income of $933 per month, then through Medicaid they are allowed to collect $2,920 to compensate. This allows for the community spouse to avoid dipping into savings each month to live comfortably. 

With this information, it is important to plan early to allow you and your spouse a comfortable lifestyle when the time comes. 

If you or someone you know needs to talk to a professional, please give us a call for a COMPLIMENTARY consultation at 973-577-9317 or contactus@njelc.com.